There was something, men of Athens, something in the hearts of the multitude then, which there is not now, which overcame the wealth of Persia and maintained the freedom of Greece, and quailed not under any battle by land or sea; the loss whereof has ruined all, and thrown the affairs of Greece into confusion.
From a speech contrasting past Athenian glory with present decline, on the erosion of civic virtue and courage.
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Then are you not ashamed, that the very damage which you would suffer, if he had the power, you dare not seize the moment to inflict on him?
Choose which ye think expedient; and put hands to the work, while it is yet time.
And surely we must suppose, that Paeonians and Illyrians, and all such people, would rather be free and independent than under subjection; for they are unused to obedience, and the man is a tyrant.
There is the insult too, and the disgrace of the thing, worse than any damage to right-thinking men.
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